Bead Artisan

Season 3 • Episode 8

Chickasaw Culture Keepers

Chickasaw bead artist Steve Adamietz sees his art as "a bridge back to the past," using beadwork techniques and motifs that have been passed down by Chickasaws through the generations. His original patterns often depict animals such as the red wolf, whose extinction in its southeastern habitat is meant to reflect the fate of the Native peoples who were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma. Adamietz regards every bead that he lays down as a prayer, and he intentionally inserts a "spirit bead" of a varying color into each of his artworks. He says that this intentional flaw is a gesture to the Creator, acknowledging that only He is perfect. The beadwork portraits that Adamietz creates start in the middle and radiate outwards in a circular pattern. One of his works in progress is based on an Old Mississippian emblem of a palm surrounded by two tie-snakes or horned serpents. He says that his creations are meant to be grasped by those who are familiar with the traditional Chickasaw stories, and making them is his contribution to tribal life and keeping the ancient practices alive.

EPISODES

3m 30s

Bead Artisan

EPISODES

Pottery

Stickball Sticks

Beading

Regalia

Metalsmithing

Shell Carving

Weaving

Horticulture

Baskets

Traditional Foods

Quilting

Flutes

Beaded Collars

Drum Making

Storytelling

Bow Making

Brent Greenwood Art

Beaded Jewelry

Flint Knapping

Stomp Dancing

Beadwork

Turkey Calls

Traditional Stories: How Day and Night Were Divided

Woodturning

Bead Artisan

Textile Art

Quilt Making

Jewelry

The Legacy of Bow Making

Bead Artistry

Painting

Woven Mats

Metalworking

Photography

Pashofa

Deer Toe Shakers

Stickball Sticks

Shell Carving

Medicine Bags

Natural Dyes

Twinning

Bladesmithing

Fish Nets

Porcupine Quillwork

Pottery Burnishing

Shell Carving

Duck Decoys

Traditional Arrows

Fine Gourd Art

Traditional Flutes

Turtle Pottery

Turtle Shell Shakers

Pucker Toe Moccasins

Chunkey

Tattoos and War Paint

Leggings and Breechcloths

Hide Brain Tanning

River Cane Harvesting, Splitting and Peeling

Stories of Kullihoma

History of Beads